Raspberry BB & Sooperlooper controller

Discuss any custom user interfaces that have been developed for SL.

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vud1
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:00 pm

Raspberry BB & Sooperlooper controller

Post by vud1 »

Hi,

I have been working in a Hardware control solution for the SooperLooper. The goal of my project is to integrate a midi & osc System tha controls the sooperlooper & my rythms pedal (a beatbuddy singularsound one).

An old youtube example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5FJkGkzk9Y

At this moment is like this:

Image

My problem now is how to sync perfectly the looper with the ryhtms machine. The Rhytms machine (beatbuddy) has a Midi clock, so I get the midi time from the midi connection to the rapsberry. You can see it in the next image:

Image

As you can see the sync to option is "Midiclock" and the tempo is set in correct way (124 bpm) But I dont know what is the best way to configure sooperlooper params (8th/cycle, quantize, sync, play sync). If my ryhtms machine is playing in a 4/4 120bpm, I would like to sync sooperlooper to a cycle (4/4 or 8/4...)

Any ideas?

Thanks :)
jesse
Posts: 554
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:46 am
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Re: Raspberry BB & Sooperlooper controller

Post by jesse »

You are going to want to use the "cycle" setting for the quantize control, and set the 8ths/cycle control to the length of the cycle you want to quantize to. So for 4/4 music, if you want to quantize to a bar, set 8ths/cycle to the number of 8ths in a 4/4 bar, which is 8. if you want two bars it would be 16. Also, you will need to enable the "sync" toggle on each loop, and optionally 'play sync'. The 'play_sync' will attempt to retrigger the loops if necessary if the clock source ends up drifting away slightly from the recorded loops. Try it without play_sync first, and enable it only if you end up needing it.

Also, you need to make sure the rhythm machine is sending a clock start when appropriate, as that is how SL knows how to synchronize the quantize times. It probably sends it when you start a rhythm playback, but it is very important that it does so.
vud1
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:00 pm

Re: Raspberry BB & Sooperlooper controller

Post by vud1 »

Ok, it seems to work with you recomendations.

sync: Midiclock
8th/cycle: 8
quantize: Cycle

But.. sometimes, there are strange behavor. I think thet the problem is related with your previus comment:

"Also, you need to make sure the rhythm machine is sending a clock start when appropriate"

I think that SL is correctly synched with my midi clock (the beats beat at same time), but SL does not Knows what 8th is the first beat of the ryhtm. So, sometimes (If i dont press the button in the right time) the beginning of the SL Cycle is not the same than the Rhythm Box start cycle.

I am not sure how to works the MIDI standard communication. Does The protocol send only "clicks"?r is it able to send tempo definition? (3/4, 4/3)...

I dont Know if I could sync the Midi clock against my Jack transporter service, and then configure SL to sync agains Jack (instead midi click). Or to develop a jack tempo server as master service and configure the ryhtm box and SL as client.

What do you think that is the best solucion in order to have a perfect tempo synchronization?
jesse
Posts: 554
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:46 am
Contact:

Re: Raspberry BB & Sooperlooper controller

Post by jesse »

The BeatBuddy does send MIDI clock start messages when it starts, so SL should be doing the right thing and know when the first beat of the cycle is, as long as you start the beat buddy first.

You should also go ahead and turn on the "play sync" toggles for each loop as well as "sync".
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